Man fears for family's safety after confrontation in house

A ROSSLARE Harbour resident says he fears for the safety of his family after he was confronted by two strangers in a semi-derelict house near to his own home.

'I am now living pretty much in fear, I have a four-year-old daughter and fear for her safety, can you believe that, in Rosslare Harbour,' said the man, who asked not to be identified.

The man lives in one of a terrace of houses that form the former Coastguard Sation, one of the oldest in the harbour, and says the derelict state of some of the houses encourage anti-social behaviour, especially from hard-up people waiting to catch ferries from the Europort.

'I had got up early to repair my car in order to attend a funeral in Ladies Island. As I was getting up I heard the noise of my gate and when I went down stairs to check what was going on I noticed that the house beside mine had it's door kicked open (yet again).

'I went to the open door and shouted "who's in there" at which point two men physically charged me shouting something in a language I don't understand.'

The man said he sprinted back in my door and locked it behind him.

'The men seemed undeterred and went back in to the house.

'I rang the police (and) all the while I could still hear these guys thrashing the house, thankfully the police arrived very quickly and in great numbers promptly arresting the pair,' said the man, who said he had complained 'umpteen times to the council to ask them to secure the derelict houses' in the block of terrace homes.

The man said there had been several and many viewings of the empty properties by would-be buyers, but most appeared to have been put off by the high cost of refurbishing what is a protected structure, reportedly owned by someone who had been living abroad for several years.

He said he did not want to move away, but had real concerns about the security of his home which had been his mother's childhood home and had belonged to his grandparents.

Local Cllr Ger Carthy said he had concerns in relation to anti-social behaviour and the 'unacceptable' condition of the building and said he had spoken to officials at the county council, who were dealing with it under the Dangerous Sites Act. 'This will have to bge sorted out.'